Dodgers at Nationals, 1:05 PM PDT, TV: MASN, SPNLA
LHP Clayton Kershaw (8-2, 2.84 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers and RHP Joe Ross (0-2, 9.45 ERA) takes the mound for the Nationals. In his last start Kershaw went six scoreless innings and struck out ten, leaving with a six-run lead and then watching the bullpen give up all of it. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Matt Beaty hit a three-run HR in the 8th inning to give the Dodgers the eventual win. Ross will be making his second start of the year; his first was Sunday, July 21. He gave up three runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in a spot start.
Here’s Turner’s 8th-inning three-run HR which gave the Dodgers a 4-1 lead:
Yesterday was the fourth consecutive day someone had a three-HR game.
The streak began with Robinson Cano of the New York Mets on Tuesday. Paul DeJong of the St. Louis Cardinals and Nelson Cruz of the Minnesota Twins followed up on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, before Betts went deep three times in the first four innings against Yankees starter James Paxton.
Prior to Thursday, it had never actually happened on three straight days in MLB history.
Today in Dodgers’ history:
- 1918 In his major league debut, Robins (Dodgers) starter Harry Heitman, after giving up hits to four consecutive batters in a 22-7 loss to the Cardinals, is pulled from the Ebbets Field contest. The 21 year-old Brooklyn rookie right-hander will never hurl again in the big leagues, ending his career with an ERA of infinity.
- 1959 The Continental League is formally announced, with franchises located in Denver, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, and Toronto. The concept of the new major league is the brainchild of William Shea, an attorney who proposed the idea a year after the Giants and Dodgers left New York City to move to the West Coast.
- 1966 Sandy Koufax strikes out 16 Phillies and Jim Bunning whiffs 12 Dodgers in the first 11 innings of a pitching duel between future Hall of Famers at Chavez Ravine. With both starters out of the game, Los Angeles beats Philadelphia, 2-1, thanks to an unearned run scored in the bottom of the twelfth inning.
- 1998 Tony Womack of the Pirates establishes a new major league mark by not grounding out into a double play in 888 consecutive at-bats, breaking the record previously established by Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser in 1946.
- 2005 Ryan Freel becomes the first player in the Reds’ 136-year history to steal five bases in a game, including two in the ninth that moves him to third base, where he scores the eventual winning run on Felipe Lopez’s sacrifice fly. The Cincinnati second baseman’s thievery contributes to the team’s 7-6 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. [Note: the Dodgers’ catcher was Jason Phillips, in his only season with the team.]
Lineup when available.
Today’s Dodger lineup at Nationals:
Verdugo LF
Turner 3B
Pollock CF
Bellinger RF
Muncy 2B
Seager SS
Smith C
Pederson 1B
Kershaw P#Dodgers | @Biofreeze pic.twitter.com/27UmUPzyP4— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 27, 2019
Grace was the first lefty starter or opener the Dodgers had seen since Boston. I think Doc’s finally got the right approach to lefty openers, putting Joc way down in the order to wait for the righty to come in. The Dodgers are now 21-12 when a southpaw starts.
Fascinating Plaschke story about using baseball as therapy for Alzheimer’s patients.
NPUT @ 0600HST, 0900 PDT, 1200 EDT
Back in the U.S.A. as of last night, after a 12-hour flight from Rome to California. Glad to see you all kept the Dodgers comfortably in front in the NL West, although they haven’t been at the top of their game, Sure hope that the Giants don’t grab one of those wild-card spots….If you have never been in Italy, I highly recommend it. Great people, beautiful scenery, tremendous food. We spent most of our time in Assisi, a lovely and historic hillside town. Whether or not one is Catholic, or even religious, the Basilica there with great works by Giotto is remarkable…The only English-language channel in Assisi was CNN International. Did not hear a single mention of baseball, but there was plenty about the British Open, world cricket championships and Formula 1 and saw some Italian broadcasts of the world swimming championships and coverage of a major archery tournament in Berlin. Night games on the West Coast begin at about 4 a.m. the following day in Italy.
Welcome home.
Benvenuto a casa
Grazie!
I’ve not been to Italy for decades but my wife, who is eligible for Italian citizenship, is keen to go. I told her we’d do so if that also makes me eligible, and I’ll sing “Volare” to the Italian consul when we do the paperwork.
Meanwhile, Fangraphs does not share your concern about the Gnats. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/391fc24ce9f55940ea587201991c806f8a89e66dee9bff6fef2573634d56c5fc.png
Yes, Italy is marvelous. Go there ever summer for an least a month.
Something is wrong with Game Day! It shows that the Dodgers received some offense from a catcher.
It’s still seems to be wrong.
Late arriving to the park (Dodgers fan after all). Today field level about ten feet up the line from first.
Bob, out of idle curiosity, what do tickets cost there? A range is fine.
Big range. You can get in for as little as ten bucks, but a beer will cost you more than that.
Ha! Sounds familiar. When the AAA Islanders left Hawai’i it was partly because the city raised the parking fee to more than a general admission ticket to the game.
I got my tickets to Red Sox game in Fenway through StubHub and they charged a $32 processing fee per ticket. Weren’t Dodger Reserve Level tickets $11 about 50 years ago.
Sometime in the late 1980s a friend and I walked up to the ticket counter at Dodger Stadium and paid no more than $10 for Reserve level tickets, as I recall. It surely wasn’t more than $15.
When we went several years ago (the black out game) we paid around 55 dollars for seats near the right field foul pole.
So, no early bullpen reports?
Somehow I think Smith won’t be included in any trade package for relievers
Well, we could GET a Will Smith, the Giants’ reliever.
AtBat app says the Nats’ starter (probably an “opener”) is LHP Matt Grace (fifth season with Washington, and I’ve never heard of him).
Live in DC and never heard of him!
Grace is 30 years old, has a career 4-4 W-L record in the bigs, debuted in 2015 and attended UCLA.
And was born in Palos Verdes Estates, Ca., near where I lived for about 18 months in 1959-1960.
Thirty-two games above .500, tied for our season high.
Now two full games ahead of the Yanquis for baseball’s best record.
First rookie with 6 RBI you have to go back to the 1920s-1930s, says Monday.
I think this is for rookie catchers. Weird Game James had 9 at Coors, Sept. 28, 2006, as a rookie.
Yeah, I forgot to add “catcher” to the sentence. Thanks.
Woo-HOO!!!
Roberts sure didn’t give Ferguson much rope.
Should have.
Watching while I work. Will! Wow!
A parade of relievers. Showcasing?
Parra went into second with spikes up.
Doesn’t like being swept.
One game to go in the series.
I’m one of those future persons.
A good one to boot!
I like that. And with Buehler on the mound, right?
Can Fergusson finish this game out? He needs a good and lengthy outing.
Do you think he has a better arm than Joe Ferguson?
They are very close.
I don’t think I have yet spelled his name the same twice.
Oh wait, youare talking about Yeager’s friend.
Ideally, the Duchess of York should be able to hold a six-run lead.
Or the noble Duke of York (who had 10,000 men),
Smith has 12 RBIs in 10 games this season.
Javy, our closer back in the day.
As a 25 year old rookie
Yes, that takes us back a few years.
He once was very good for us.
Andrew Benintendi of the Sawx hit a 310-foot dinger against the Yanquis.
So, Fergie gets them easily…
Parra, of all people, has a big following here.
Oops. He was on deck, so not appearing yet after DP.
Nice catch Mr Smith
Good future person!
7:05 AM game tomorrow, my time. I gotta write the game thread post this afternoon, I guess.
Yes, if you continue want to be paid the same amount you’ve been receiving these past many years. . . Seriously, what you do day in and day out is greatly appreciated.
Aw shucks, thanks.
Has Kelly always thrown a knuckle curve or did he add that this year?
He made Eaton look really bad there.
Joe Kelly making HIS case for the Dodgers to get relief support at trade deadline.
He’s been pretty good lately.
Had a July ERA of 2.57 before allowing the HR.
He’s also been pitching in higher leverage situations.
Joe, Joe, Joe… Read the room.
Just a bit outside…
Inside, but a bit high…
Kelly deserved to give up that home run. I was glad to see it.
The eight spot use to be a dead zone.
Wally Pipp comes to mind.
Austin Barnes just became organizational depth.
I expect him to be the backup catcher next season.
That might be tough for him to swallow.
I don’t know his free-agent status, but I think at least a couple more years of team control. Backup catchers still get to play quite a bit, and he’s also a capable infielder for depth purposes. Also, https://twitter.com/DavidYoungTBLA/status/1155244250969198592?s=20
Which is just a step above being DFA.
Does DFA stand for Dodgers Forget Austin or Don’t Fire Austin, or neither?
Suppose Martin can pitch now
Might be the only way he gets into a game for awhile.
I cannot believe what I just saw…
Tim N on TV: “More like Smith & Wesson” after that double.
Was the catcher’s spot overdue or is Smith really good?
The kid is having some kind of a back-to-the-majors game. He fouled off two straight 0-2 pitches before doubling.
A question to all: What are your feelings about Jansen?
I might have just answered that about an inch below.
Yes, I just saw that now. Jansen worries me considerably. One bad inning in a post-season series can spell doom, as it has in the World Series the last two seasons.
Relievers weren’t our problem in the last two WS, though, of course they could be if we reach another one.
What worries me most is his propensity for gopher balls. He gave 13 last year, double what he’d ever surrendered in his career. Thru game 105 he’s given up six, which is tied for second-most in his career.
HRs are such crushers in the playoffs that’s this is not a trend I want to see.
I want to have confidence in him, but on occasion he’s been used too infrequently. Yesterday he looked rusty. I’m certainly in favor of bullpen help, and so is he. https://twitter.com/billplunkettocr/status/1155237249270919168?s=20
Also in that article:
Is it safe now for the pen to get 9 outs?
Not without Kenley being available.
Maybe that is a good thing.
No one up in the pen, so I guess they send Klayton out for another.
Pitch count’s up to 94, but bottom of the order coming up.
Yeah, you would think they would get someone warm in any event. Speaking of warm, it sure is here.
You have been on the sunny side.
Kersh as usual fights to stay in.
It was over 100 degrees in Assisi the last couple of days we were there.
Doc can’t fight back if he doesn’t have a warm arm.
Smith has three RBIs today, the second time he has that many in one game in his brief time with the Dodgers this season. Barnes achieved that number once, Martin has not.
Almost.
In the last several games the Dodger starters have pitched well and left with a lead only to get a no decision. Maybe Kersh is on to something by giving up 2 runs in the first.
He’s mowing the Nats down now and Smith will get several more at bats so we are in good shape.
Looking back at this, I’m feeling as if I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.
https://twitter.com/jorgecastillo/status/1155216674515226630?s=20
Dodgers outsmarted Nats by putting hitters that could hit lefties at the top of the order. Or not!
Will Smith is The Natural.
Mr. Smith comes to Washington!
Love it. Smith is hot.
Kersh has made lots of good pitches but couldn’t put the hitter away resulting in trouble.
15 pitches, 13 strikes.
Good battery to defend the steal and a good stealer on first. Make that second.
Pederson in the 8 hole? Of course there isn’t really a weak bat in that lineup.
Joc might not have to face Grace if he only goes 2 innings but he is so far very efficient.
I didn’t realize Grace was going to open.